Senate begins probe on extrajudicial killings
A defiant Senator Leila De Lima, who is raring to prove that extrajudicial killings are a reality under the Duterte administration, denied calls for the postponement of the two-day Senate hearing on the spate of summary executions in the Philippines which opens today.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte, for his part, challenged Congress to include in its investigation the alleged involvement of certain person-
alities connected with De Lima on the conditions of the Bureau of Corrections during her time.
In an advisory sent to the media, De Lima, chair of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, said the joint public hearing with the Senate committee on public order and illegal drugs will hear and receive testimonies from witnesses of extra judicial killings and summary executions who have been invited to attend the two-day probe.
She also said the panel will also hear the reports of concerned government agencies on the spate of killings, and the position papers of resource persons invited to attend the hearing.
The former justice secretary also said it would look into results of investigations of concerned agencies, and come up with initial conclusions and observations for legislative remedy.
Among those invited by her panel are Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Isidro Lapeña, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Dante Gierran, Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ismael Sueno and Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chairman Chito Gascon.
De Lima reiterated the need to address the phenomenon of vigilantism and summary killings and to enhance the accountability of state and non-state actors.
“Regardless of the question whether those killed were in fact criminals, precisely because there was no opportunity for them to be prosecuted before a court of law, the fight against crime is apparently becoming a state-sanctioned cover for a policy of summary executions and extrajudicial killings of any and all suspected criminals,” De Lima said in a recent interview.
The Senate’s investigation will run from Aug. 22 and 23, 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Senate session hall.
Last Saturday, the senator came out to denounce the President’s allegations she was a coddler of big-time drug lords and also refuted allegations her driver was her bagman and collected drug money from well-known drug operators.
This, after Duterte floated the possibility of having De Lima’s driver, Ronnie Palisoc Dayan, turning into a state witness against her.
The senator said she cannot help perceive that the attacks being launched against her are part of the Duterte administration’s efforts to derail the Senate’s investigation.
“I do not want the Senate inquiry… being diverted to my personal issues that I consider foul,” she said during the press briefing in Quezon City.
She also vowed to prove the President wrong for linking her to illegal drugs.
“Yes, I’m pretty confident. I will stand by my innocence any time, now and forever,” De Lima said.
Probe De Lima, aides President Duterte said that the links between De Lima and her cohorts would add to the evidence regarding the anomalies inside the jail.
“You might as well include it [in the investigation],” Duterte said.
The Duterte administration has implemented sweeping reforms at the Bureau of Corrections, especially at the New Bilibid Prisons, which was formerly under the watch of De Lima.
The President said that under De Lima’s watch, anomalies such as illegal drugs trade were being conducted right inside the prison, which also involved correctional officers as bagmen.
Duterte said that those involved will be ordered to “tell the truth before any government body” or be prepared to be charged for serious negligence of duty.
“Be prepared to be investigated because I will charge you for negligence or the violation of the revised penal code,” he said.
The House of Representatives should not spare Senator Leila de Lima’s driver from the congressional probe on allegations of rampant production and trafficking of illegal narcotics at the New Bilibid Prison during her term as justice secretary.
Reps. Vincent Crisologo (NP, Quezon City) and Ricky Sandoval (PDP-Laban, Navotas) said Ronnie Dayan should be grilled by lawmakers about allegations made by no less than President Duterte that he collected protection money for convicted drug lords who ran illegal drug operations right at the NBP during De Lima’s term.
Led by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Majority Leader Rodolfo Farinas, congressmen filed House Resolution 105 proposing a House inquiry into the alleged drug operations at the national prison in Muntinlupa City.
Minority Leader Danilo Suarez coauthored the resolution that will also attempt to determine the culpability of officials of the Department of Justice when the drug operations were discovered.